The last few weeks, I've found myself struggling with the relentless nature of God's plagues. I don't really even have words to explain how working through this has affected me. But when you find yourself thinking about the plagues off and on during the day while you work, and then studying them in the mornings, it becomes really heavy. I don't know how else to put it. That's part of why we've studied other things for a couple weeks-- I needed a break. And if it's that bad for us, I can't imagine what it'd be like to be Pharaoh, or the Egyptians, and suffering these things.
I think it's like when you have a bad winter, with never ending blizzards. And you think, spring will never come. I will drive on bad, scary roads 12 hours a day forever. That's what it's like to be Pharaoh, or an Egyptian. Will there be an end? Will God forever strengthen Pharaoh's resolve? Will God forever punish?
Exodus 11:1-3:
(1) And Yahweh said to Moses,
"Still one [more] plague, I am bringing upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt.
After this, he will release you from this.
At the time he releases you, [while] completely destroyed, he shall surely drive you out from here.
(2) Speak, please, in the ears of the people,
and let each man ask from his neighbor,
while the woman from her (female) neighbor, for things of silver and things of gold,
(3) and Yahweh has given favor of the people in the eyes of the Egyptians.
Also/What's more, the man Moses [is] very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of the people,"
What we see here, is that the end is in sight. There is one more plague that Yahweh is planning. And at this point, when Egypt is truly, completely destroyed (Exodus 10:7), the Israelites won't simply be released. They'll be driven out.
And when they leave, verse 2, they will leave as a filthy rich people. God will give the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that they can ask for anything, and it will be given to them. And so God tells them, very nicely, to make sure you ask. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If this was an infomercial, God would tell them to knock on their neighbor's door now, while supplies last.
Why does God do this for his people?
You could answer this two ways. I think they are both right. I'll talk about the first one here, and only hint at the second one a little later.
The first reason God did this for his people, has to do with how God intended slavery to work in the OT.
When we think about slavery, we think about it in the context of white slave owners, possessing and sometimes mistreating black slaves. American slavery had no end. There was no real way out, except running away. It was oppressive, and it's rightfully remembered as oppressive.
Where we go wrong, is that we tend to take this understanding of slavery, and read it back into the OT. And that simply doesn't work. It's unfair to the Bible. It's unfair to how God wanted this to work (for the kernel for what follows, see Brueggemann, Exodus, in The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary series, 1:770, who himself bases it on David Daube, The Exodus Pattern in the Bible, 55-61).
Let's turn to Deuteronomy 15:1-18 (use the NRSV?, but I'll keep my translation here). As we read this, think about yourselves as someone who God has blessed. You have money in the bank, because God gave it to you. You have food in your pantry, because God gave it to you. Read this, as people who have more than you need-- who have a surplus. And read this as a people who are surrounded by needy people. To some, you've lent money. To others, you've maybe refused to lend:
(1) At the end of seven years, you shall make remission [=release from what is owed],
and this is how remission will work: [he shall] remit-- every owner of the loan of his hand that he carries against his neighbor.
He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother because it is called a remission to Yahweh.
(3) [From] the foreigner you may/shall require payment,
while whatever will be yours from/with your brother, your hand shall not require payment.
(4) However, there shall not be among you a poor person,
because Yahweh will surely bless you in the land
that Yahweh your God is giving you [as] an inheritance to take possession of it.
(5) Only, if you actually/surely heed the voice of Yahweh your God to keep to do all these commandments that I am commanding you today,
(6) when Yahweh your God has blessed you,
just as He told you,
you shall lend to many nations,
while you shall not borrow,
and you shall rule/dominate over many nations,
while over you they shall not rule/dominate.
(7) If there is among you a poor [person] from one of your brothers in one of your towns in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you, you shall not strengthen (different word, but roughly same meaning) your resolve/heart,
and you shall not close off your hand from your brother-- the poor one--,
(8) but you shall certainly/actually open your hand for him,
and you shall certainly/actually lend him enough for his need-- whatever is lacking for him.
(9) Watch yourselves, lest there become a wicked thing in your heart/resolve, saying,
"Near, the seventh year [is]. The year of remission,"
and your eye is evil against your brother-- the poor one--,
and you don't give to him,
and he calls out about you to Yahweh,
and it shall be against you sin.
(10) Surely/actually give to him,
and your heart/resolve must not be evil when you give to him (="be a cheerful lender/giver"),
because on the basis of this matter Yahweh your God shall bless you in all your work and in all that you set out to do,
(11) because the poor shall not cease from being in the midst of the land.
For this reason I am commanding you, saying,
"You shall surely/actually open your hand to your brother-- to your needy-- to your poor -- in your land."
Up to this point, Moses has been talking about debt forgiveness. No debt can be owed more than seven years. At that point, all debts are forgiven. If you're the lender, this sounds like the worst idea ever. But God promises, that He will more than make this up to you. Keep an open hand toward your brother-- your neighbor-- when he lacks basic necessities, and God will bless you in everything you set out to do. That big plan you have-- God will bless it. That business you want to open-- God will bless it.
Starting in verse 12, Moses slightly shifts topics. Sometimes, a person's need goes beyond what can be lent out. They are wiped out financially, and something more drastic is necessary. And that, is OT slavery. Verse 12:
(12) When your brother is sold to you-- a Hebrew man or Hebrew woman-- he shall serve you six years,
and in the seventh year you shall release him free from [being] with you,
(13) and when you release him free from [being] with you, you shall not release him empty.
(14) You shall surely/actually supply for him from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine press.
[Out of] that which Yahweh God has blessed you, you shall give him,
(15) and you shall remember that a servant you were in the land of Egypt,
and Yahweh your God redeemed you.
For this reason I am commanding you [about] this matter today,
(16) and then, if/when he says to you,
"I will not go out from [being] with you,
because I love you and your house (=family),
because good [it is] for me [to be] with you,"
(17) you shall take the awl (=sharp pointy thing for piercing ears),
and you shall give it in his ear and in the door,
and he shall be a servant for you forever,
and also for your female servant, you shall do likewise.
(18) It shall not be hard/difficult in your eyes, when you release him free from [being] with you,
because twice as hard/long he has served you six years,
and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do.
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On "however" in verse 4 (?????? ????? ), see Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar 40.15.3:
(3) Conjunctive adverb
?????? indicates the restriction of invoked expectations. When used with this meaning, ?????? ???? (#a) or ?????? (#b) governs a clause as a conjunctive adverb.
A
???????????????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ?????????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ????????
And I will destroy them [lit. her] from the surface of the earth. However, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob (Amos 9:8).*
b
???????? ????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????? ?????????
However, the word which I speak to you, that only you shall speak (Num. 22:35).*
The idea is that there should be no poverty, because all will obey Yahweh, and Yahweh will make sure all are blessed. The presence of any poverty in Israel, is only because of sin. It doesn't mean the poor person is a sinner-- and probably (if we are reading Isaiah/Micah/Amos/etc., the poor person is most likely the one being sinned against.
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When we think about these verses, what do they teach about slavery?
Slavery in the OT was designed to be temporary. If you, and your family, were unable to meet your basic needs, you'd probably first ask your brother or neighbor to lend you money. You'd ask someone with money in the bank, or with food in their pantry. But at some point, that's not going to be enough. You can't beg and borrow forever.
What you'll have to do, eventually, is sell yourself to someone better off for a period of time. Seven years. During those years, your "owner" had the rights to your work.
Now, in this, he had to treat you rightly. He had to give you the Sabbath day off from work, along with the festivals. There were laws protecting you. He couldn't be like Pharaoh.
And at the end of those seven years, you both (I assume) had the choice of whether you wanted this relationship to continue or not. If you, the slave, wanted, you could either remain his slave for life, or become free.
This maybe seems like an easy decision. But consider this in terms of the best boss you ever had. The one who expected you to work hard, maybe. But that boss was reasonable. That boss listened to you. That boss gave you the benefit of the doubt when you messed up. All in all, you didn't mind that boss at all. Maybe, you even sort of liked working for that boss, even if you'd never admit it, or didn't realize it until you got a different boss. Maybe your boss bought you fast food almost every day for lunch, steering you toward a life of DQ bliss (thanks Mom!).
And in this Deuteronomy passage, you are probably grateful for that boss, because that boss is the reason you and your family didn't starve to death. That's the kind of boss you wake up every day grateful for, happy to serve. Maybe. Or maybe, at the end of those seven years, your boss is still The Man.
So let's say your seven years are up, and you're eyeballing your boss, trying to figure out if you want this relationship to continue. And you decide, you want out.
Your boss then has the responsibility to send you out, with enough possessions to make sure you can make it back in the real world. You get sent out with livestock, and food, and wine. You get sent out, in the measure by which God blessed your "owner" while you worked for them. If your boss was a carpenter, I assume you get sent out with tools (along with new, valuable life skills). If your boss was a shepherd, you get sheep or goats.
Now, God knows that some of his people aren't going to want to send out the people with very much. They are naturally tightwads. And so He reminds them, in verse 15, about their own slavery in Egypt. All of God's people know what it's like to work for the Man. All of God's people know what it's like to have almost nothing.
So God tells the slave owner, send out your slave, the way God sent you out from Egypt. Send them out in a way, that they land back on their own two feet.
All of this is not a gift. This is something that slaves have earned. This is compensation. For seven years, slaves working in this situation worked twice as hard as a daily laborer. They worked out of gratitude. They worked, out of the knowledge that nothing can be taken for granted.
And those of us who lived like this, know exactly what I'm talking about. Poverty stinks. And when God shows kindness to you, putting you in a place where you can thrive and be prosperous financially, you will be far more grateful for that job than everyone around you. You will work hard; you'll keep your mouth shut; you'll be the best kind of employee. And hopefully, you'll live open-handed.
So when you're reading the OT, think about slavery as something more like a long-term contracted employee. When teachers get hired at a school, they have to sign a contract to work there a certain number of years. It works the same way for professional athletes. Slavery in the OT is kind of like that. A long-term employment contract.
So that's the ideal for slavery in the OT. In a world with no food stamps or government assistance, when you see your wife and children starving to death, or freezing to death, slavery is not a bad choice. You do what you have to do, to provide for your family.
And even using the word "slavery" is unhelpful. In most ways, it's like being an employee. And if I found myself in that position, the main thing I'd try to do is pick my future owner carefully. Someone who runs a successful business, and is fair.
How does all this relate to Pharaoh, and Israel?
Israel has served Pharaoh as a slave for long enough. Its time of service is up. And the people, by right, should be sent out with compensation. Their time and effort was worth something. They deserve a paycheck, when they go. They earned it.
Pharaoh should release them with an open hand, and not a closed one.
So Yahweh makes sure this is what happens. He gives them favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that that the people voluntarily give their wealth. It's like earned looting. They deserve this. It's theirs, by right. And Yahweh gives them what they are owed.
All of this was the biggest rabbit trail of all time. But hopefully, this helps you to understand slavery in the OT more clearly. And maybe, thinking about this will encourage you to walk through life with open hands toward your brothers, when you see them in need (Matthew 25:31-45). How God blesses you, in this life (2 Corinthians 9:6-9), and the next (Matt. 25:31-45), depends in large part on how open your hand is.
Verse 4-10:
(4) and Moses said (to Pharaoh),
"Thus has said Yahweh: About the middle of the night, I am coming out through the midst of Egypt,
(5) and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die--
from the firstborn of Pharaoh-- the one dwelling upon his throne-- up to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the pair of millstones-- and every firstborn of domestic animals,
(6) and a great cry shall came in all the land of Egypt,
that there has never been like it,
and there will never be like it again,
(7) while to all the sons of Israel a dog will not bark/threaten with its tongue-- toward humans and up to domestic animal--
so that you shall know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and between Israel,
(8) and all of these servants of yours will come down to me,
and/that they may submit/bow down to me, saying,
"Go out-- you, with all the people who are at your feet,"
and after this, I will go out,"
and he went out from with Pharaoh hot with anger,
(9) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Pharaoh will not listen to you,
for the purpose of the multiplying of wonders in/against the land of Egypt,"
(10) Now, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh,
and Yahweh strengthened the resolve of Pharaoh,
and he didn't release the sons of Israel from his land.
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What I want to focus on today, for an application, is verses 6-7:
(6) and a great cry shall come in all the land of Egypt,
that there has never been like it,
and there will never be like it again,
(7) while to all the sons of Israel a dog will not bark/threaten with its tongue-- toward humans and up to domestic animal--
so that you shall know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and between Israel,
The main thing that God wants to teach Pharaoh here, in chapter 11, is that God does not treat everyone the same. God makes a distinction between his people, and Egypt.
Maybe this seems obvious-- like something not worth talking about.
But my guess is that this is something that some of you really need to hear.
We all know that God loves the world. While we sinners, God sent Jesus to die for our sins (Rom. 5:8-9), and raised him from the dead, so that we could be raised up, to walk in newness of life with Christ, for God (Romans 6). God has created a way for us to be reconciled to himself, even though we deserve his wrath (Eph. 2). That's love. That's grace.
We also know that God shows kindness, and love, in other ways. He usually gives rain to both the righteous and the wicked. He makes the sun shine on all people so that things grow, and so that we can live productive, fruitful lives (Matthew 5:45). Usually, wicked farmers, and righteous farmers, both have a harvest at the end of the year. As a rule, the wicked aren't trapped in their houses, unable to even move for days, because God has hidden all light from them.
But in saying this, we are not telling the whole story. God makes a distinction between his people-- we who live faithfully toward him, and love him with the entirety of who we are-- and with outsiders.
God treats us better. Or, at least, He wants to. And what I'd like to do this morning, is remind you of some of the blessings that God has given you. It's important that we don't forget all the blessings that come with being God's people (consider this Psalm 103, with bonus NT blessings).
It's to you, that God has given his Holy Spirit. It's to you, that God will give peace and joy through the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). It's to you, that Jesus promises that you will never go hungry, as long as you seek God and his kingdom first (Matthew 6:33-34). It's to you, that God promises that He rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). It's to you, to the ones abiding in Jesus, that Jesus promises that whatever you ask in his name, that he will do it (John 15:7).
You are the ones who God calls his children. You are the ones who get to call God "Abba, Father." And you are the ones whose prayers God answers.
You are the ones enthroned with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6). In Christ, you are kings. You are favored.
And God expects you to walk through life, remembering this, and living in light of this. You are royalty, and you walk, as royalty.
You are the one with friends in high places. You are saints.
God treats you better.
And as you draw closer and closer to God, He will draw closer and closer to you (James 4:8). As you seek him, He will reveal himself more and more to you (Jeremiah 29:12-14). You can know God far better than you do today. You can become an even better friend to God. You can become a better servant, given greater responsibilities.
God treats you far better than He does outsiders.
And He will treat you even better, as you come closer to Him.
God makes a distinction between you, and the world. Remember this, and praise God for this. Praise God for his faithfulness, and loyalty, and favor.
God treats you better.
Translation:
(1) And Yahweh said to Moses,
"Still one [more] plague, I am bringing upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt.
After this, he will release you from this.
At the time he releases you, [while] completely destroyed, he shall surely drive you out from here.
(2) Speak, please, in the ears of the people,
and let each man ask from his neighbor,
while the woman/wife from her (female) neighbor, for things of silver and things of gold,
(3) and Yahweh has given favor of the people in the eyes of the Egyptians.
Also/What's more, the man Moses [is] very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of the people,"
(4) and Moses said (to Pharaoh),
"Thus has said Yahweh: About the middle of the night, I am coming out through the midst of Egypt,
(5) and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die--
from the firstborn of Pharaoh-- the one dwelling upon his throne-- up to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the pair of millstones-- and every firstborn of domestic animals,
(6) and a great cry shall came in all the land of Egypt,
that there has never been like it,
and there will never be like it again,
(7) while to all the sons of Israel a dog will not bark/threaten with its tongue-- toward humans and up to domestic animal--
so that you shall know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and between Israel,
(8) and all of these servants of yours will come down to me,
and/that they may submit/bow down to me, saying,
"Go out-- you, with all the people who are at your feet,"
and after this, I will go out,"
and he went out from with Pharaoh hot with anger,
(9) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Pharaoh will not listen to you,
for the purpose of the multiplying of wonders in/against the land of Egypt,"
(10) Now, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh,
and Yahweh strengthened the resolve of Pharaoh,
and he didn't release the sons of Israel from his land.
